BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Bristol City Council approved a new law Tuesday that will make it easier for the city’s Police Department to enforce the community’s ban on fireworks.
Approved unanimously, the ordinance gives all police officers immediate ability to cite those violating the fireworks ban. Under the old law – in effect for more than 50 years – Bristol’s Fire Chief had to designate specific police officers as having the power to enforce the anti-fireworks code.
City Manager Jeffrey Broughton told the council that the approved fireworks law was needed to strengthen an old code that “wasn’t very user-friendly to the Police Department.”
Councilman David Shumaker said the new ordinance also makes it clear that Bristol will continue to actively ban selling or using fireworks without a formal city permit.
“Fireworks have been illegal in Bristol about as long as I’ve been alive,” said a chuckling Shumaker, who’s in his mid-50s. “[And] we’re not changing anything. We’re leaving it just as it is.”
Bristol officials moved to strengthen the anti-fireworks law in reaction to a June decision by the Sullivan County Commission that now allows fireworks to be sold and used in the county.
In other activity Tuesday, the City Council:
- Approved a proposal to annex of 157 acres of farmland, near Weaver Pike and Route 394, into the city and give it single-family zoning status.
- Approved an ordinance to rename the current Bristol Metals Road as South Acres Drive, beginning Jan. 1, 2011. Broughton said new construction in the Partnership Park II industrial park will turn the current Bristol Metals Road into a cul-de-sac that no longer literally leads into the Bristol Metals Co. – making it confusing to keep using the name for that section.
By agreeing to rename it as South Acres Drive, the City Council is restoring the road’s previous name before 1988, when it became Bristol Metals Road.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement